Yongsan-gu to Recruit 20 Couples for Korean Medicine Infertility Treatment Support Program Until the End of This Month
[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Due to late marriages, advanced maternal age, and environmental pollution, the number of people experiencing infertility despite normal marital relations is continuously increasing.
As of 2019, approximately 230,000 people were known to be infertility patients in South Korea.
Yongsan-gu (District Mayor Seong Changhyun) is recruiting 40 participants (20 couples) for the 2020 Korean Medicine Infertility Treatment Support Project until the end of this month.
This is to improve the health and pregnancy ability of infertile couples and contribute to increasing the birth rate.
Applicants must be Yongsan-gu residents (current address) who have lived in Seoul for more than six months as of the application date and be infertile couples (including common-law marriages) wishing for natural pregnancy. However, the woman must be 41 years old or younger (born after January 1, 1979).
The support covers 90% of the cost of a 3-month supply of Korean medicine infertility treatment herbal medicine (up to 1,192,320 KRW). The remaining 10% is self-paid. Basic livelihood security recipients and low-income households receive 100% support. Support can be provided once per applicant per year, up to twice.
Those wishing to participate in the project can check their eligibility on the Seoul Pregnancy and Childbirth Information Center website, then bring the pre-screening result, infertility diagnosis certificate, test results, ID, and resident registration certificate to the district health center.
To ensure smooth project implementation, the district signed a written business agreement with the Yongsan-gu Korean Medicine Association earlier this month. Designated clinics will be selected within this month after reviewing expertise, clinical experience, and disqualification reasons.
A district official stated, “Support recipients must actively participate in education and surveys operated by the district,” and added, “Treatment should begin within two weeks after the issuance of the support decision notice.”
They also mentioned, “Infertility procedures are not allowed during the 3-month Korean medicine treatment,” and “Please notify the health center if treatment is discontinued.”
The goal of this year’s Korean medicine infertility treatment support project is to achieve a 20% pregnancy success rate among participants.
Last year, the district conducted the project with 34 infertile individuals (17 couples). Excluding 8 dropouts (4 couples), 8 out of 26 participants (13 couples), or 30%, successfully became pregnant.
In addition to the Korean medicine infertility treatment support project, the district plans to contribute to increasing the local birth rate through support for infertility procedure costs, prenatal and postnatal health care, congenital anomaly testing, and childbirth preparation classes.
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